Victor Lindelof unexpectedly left Manchester United`s match, considered their best this season, because his son was urgently taken to the hospital due to a severe head injury.
The Swedish defender was supposed to be substituted in at halftime during Manchester United`s Europa League game against Lyon last Thursday.
However, he was replaced by Luke Shaw instead.
Manchester United eventually won the quarter-final with a 7-6 aggregate score after a remarkable comeback in extra time, with Harry Maguire scoring the winning goal in the 121st minute.
After the game, manager Ruben Amorim stated that Lindelof and teammate Noussair Mazraoui withdrew from the match due to personal matters.
Lindelof`s wife, Maja, has since disclosed that he had to rush to the hospital to be with his son Francis, age three, who had a serious accident at home.
Maja explained that an hour before the Lyon game, their babysitter called to say they were in an ambulance en route to the hospital. Their youngest son, Francis, had severely cut his head open after falling into a glass staircase while chasing his older brother, Ted Louie, at home. His forehead was deeply split, and he was hospitalized on Thursday and Friday. He required plastic surgery under anesthesia to repair his forehead.
Maja added that this was her first experience with such an incident involving her children, describing it as extremely distressing and something she hopes never to repeat. She shared that the surgery was successful, and Francis is recovering well and acting like his usual self. Despite the doctors mentioning a significant scar, she is just grateful that everything turned out alright.
Lindelof returned to play for Manchester United on Sunday, captaining the team against Wolves. He was substituted shortly after Wolves scored the only goal, winning 1-0 at Old Trafford.
